Perfect Discovery

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” ~Dalai Lama

Originating in the 6th Century BCE, Buddhism is one of the oldest religious philosophies still practiced today. One of the most fundamental aspects and lesser known of Buddhist teachings is that it encourages its followers not to believe in the teachings, but rather to interpret, explore and test truths against their own life experience. The emphasis here lives within the sphere of exploration.

All life paths are unique to the individual. Some suffer undue hardships throughout their entire lives, while others seem to rise to the top, receiving and achieving everything they desire. Some try and fail over and over again and never succeed at personal goals. Many are born into the world with physical ailments which are completely out of their control, though this doesn’t mean that they live poor lives.

This is life, the principal remains the same; life is not perfect. I believe it is perfectly imperfect. Many people continue to suffer and struggle and are left unsatisfied in a vain attempt to make life perfect. We must rise above this; remain still within the heart and mind, realizing that simply living life can bring about more happiness than ever thought.

Compassion, kindness and ethical conduct are core principals of my life. Though this hasn’t always been my outlook, I’ve come to this place through experiencing and exploring life uniquely, as only I could do within my own sphere of existence and interpretation. Perfection, to me, is an impossibility. There is nothing to measure perfection against because nothing is perfect, therefore how could anyone attain perfection?

As we travel through the sphere of exploration, we must attune the heart and mind to simple and unseen beauty. We must lift the rock, but not look under it. Instead, we must look at the bottom of the rock, inside its grooves and pores. We must part the leaves of the tree, and search within the stem.

Compassion is the explorer’s compass. Search not for perfection, instead seek truth within all creation. It will always be changing, moving and living, but always be there for you to find. It is only you who can find it, and only then will it be a perfect discovery.

I studied mindfulness and meditation for sometime, i must admit that these things come and go, when i am in greater need i use them more and when life is moving along smoothly i forget. The one thing that i came to realize that the teachings of buddism are very often similar to those of Jesus Christ; compassion. It is only when we learn to treat ourselves compassion that we then see beyond ourselves to show compassion to others.

Great post, I’ve been exploring the paradox of such a endeavour(being inherently perfect, but looking for perfection outside yourself) for a few weeks now, it’s has opened up so many worlds of thought for me.

Great quote. In the beginning you start with discussing that Buddhism encourages it’s followers to explore and interpret for themselves. Can you imagine if more religions did that? That would be so wonderful. I know my understanding of Christianity completely changed once I started reading the Bible for myself and exploring different meanings and how they apply to my life.

“Search not for perfection, instead seek truth within all creation. It will always be changing, moving and living, but always be there for you to find. It is only you who can find it, and only then will it be a perfect discovery”

This real stuck out to me reminds me of the quote I often have myself falling back on over and over again. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I?”-Hillel

This is quite beautifully written and I love the concept behind it. I’m working on following my heart and intuition rather than overanalyzing everything. Sometimes my philosophical tendencies (and being a philosophy major) isn’t helpful when it comes to finding peace, which exists within the quiet and calm of the heart.

I love the first quote, It’s one of my favourite quotes. This is a beautiful post which I think really captures the esscence of Buddhism. Check out ‘Widening the circle of love’ by the dalia lama, it’s a brill book!